Valparaiso and Santiago; A Tale of Two Cities pt.2

Sorry it took so long to put up part two, I've had a lot of homework....whattttt? Also this is about to be really long.

As a side note, not related to Santiago, I woke up this morning with every intention of going running. I got out my clothes and sneakers and was actually about to go, and then I thought about all of the cat calls that I would get, when I all I really wanted was a nice quiet run by the ocean. I ended up not going. It's not because I feel unsafe in this city, quite the opposite in fact, I just get tired of being 'the gringa' that everyone calls out too. I'm pretty sure even if I wore a burlap sack I would have the same problem. However, I don't want that to dictate my lifestyle here, and I'm sure I will make it out running soon, just not today.

Friday morning, August 20th, we left to go to Santiago. My day started out kind of rough. I got on a micro at 8:25 to go to Vina, to meet up with everyone at 8:45, and got off the micro at about 9:10. This is usually a twenty minute ride. People kept calling me and asking where I was, I told them I was on my way. I found out later that the CIEE staff was going to leave without me because I was so late, which I thought was a little rich since nobody is ever on time in this country and it wasn't really my fault my micro driver decided 'carreteando' would be a good way to get to Vina (carreteando, from carretear-to party, means the micro makes a lot of stops so that a lot of people can get on).
All that aside I made it on the bus.

Upon arrival in Santiago we went straight to Cerro San Cristobal, which from the top has a panoramic view of Santiago and the Cordilleras (Andes). It was absolutely gorgeous out and I was very excited to see Santiago from above, however the amount of smog definitely didn't give me the scenic look I was hoping for. Nonetheless the Andes are very impressive, the juxtaposition with the smog is just disheartening. Apparently after it rains the smog is less dense, making for a better 'vista'.

After the Cerro we went and checked into our hotel, and went out to a delicious lunch. I sort of hate going out with our whole program, there are 40 of us and we just make such a scene, unintentionally, wherever we go. On the other hand, everyone in my program is pretty great, so it's nice to spend time with them. After lunch we had some free time and then my CIEE Cuentos class got to meet Alejandra Costamagna, who is a Chilean author. It was really interesting to talk to her about her stories that we read and hear about her transition from journalism to creative writing and from short stories to novels. I definitely geeked out and had her sign my book of short stories...check. As it turns out Alejandra Costamagna is a pretty big deal here in Chile, and through out the rest of the weekend we saw her name over and over again. Once in a review in a literary magazine and once in an exhibit called 'Transnoche' (I'll explain in a bit)

After meeting Alejandra Costamagna, the best part of my weekend happened, Allyson came to the hotel to meet up!!! I can't even explain to you how great it was to see her, in Chile, weird but so right at the same time. Later that night we went out with her and her friends (Chilean and American) for Allie's anti-despedida (anti farewell, just a good time with friends before leaving). Allie is a fellow K student who studied in Santiago last year and was here for the summer doing SIP research (Senior Individualized Project for all non-K students). I had a really good time meeting their friends, who we ended up going out with again on Saturday.

Saturday morning (bright and early) we went to Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts) in downtown Santiago. It was interesting, but I'm definitely glad we had a tour guide, because otherwise so much of it would have been lost on me. I say that because the paintings themselves weren't exceptional, but the history that accompanied them was. For example, Robert Matta, who painted a mural for Museo Cielo Abierto, also did a series of abstract paintings which were displayed in the museum. One of them was censored by the government during Pinochet's regime, and was just recently restored.

After this we went and found a hostel, La Casa Roja, close to Allyson's apartment. I went and had 'once' with her family, which was wonderful. Her little brother Renato, 2 yrs, has a thing for 'las rubias' so was pretty taken with me and spent the entire time giving me toys and staring at me with wide eyes. I also met the 1 month old, Leonora, who Renato calls 'mana' short for 'hermana' (sister). Adorable.

At the hostel I met the most interesting people, and this made me very excited to start traveling around Chile and Argentina. One of the guys we met, Andy, ended up coming out with us on Saturday. My bunkmate was from Brazil and his friend showed me pictures from Valle Nevado, which looks absolutely breathtaking.

Sunday was a memorable day for Chile; we found out that the 33 miners that were trapped in the collapsed mine are alive, and for the most part well. Being in the capital of the country to find this out was a heart warming and powerful experience. People were honking, more than usual, and waving Chilean flags out of the windows, while people gathered in the plazas to sing and celebrate. It was such a unique thing to see, since nothing like that has happened in the states, at least that I can compare it too. It was great to see a country come together to mourn and then celebrate. It will still be another 4 months until they can get the miners out, but at least they now have access to food and water.

Also on Sunday, Max, Marina, Maddy and I went to La Moneda (which is their White House) and stumbled upon a museum in the basement of the building. For 500 pesos ($1) we got tickets to four exhibits. We ended up only going to 'Mascaras de Ecuador' (masks of Ecuador) and 'Transnoche', both of which I really liked. The first one was a display of traditional masks and outfits from Ecuadorian festivals. The second one was a collaboration between photographers and writers from Santiago to show the reality of Santiago's night life (really drove home the fact I'm glad I'm not living in Santiago, I'm just a small city kind of girl). The writers wrote short excerpts which the photographers used to set up scenes to be photographed. The images and stories were really powerful, but the ending is what really brought it all together. There was a movie/power point at the end that showed the printed photographs we had scene, but also pictures that would have come before and after that one moment in time. (how the characters got to that scene and what happened after). Very good use of multi-media.

As our final farewell to Santiago we went and got ice cream with Allyson, SO GOOD! Then caught a bus home to Valpo.

Some side notes I've been meaning to add:
My host mom keeps bowls of water balloons around the house to throw at the stray cats when they sneak into our patio. Probably my favorite thing I've learned about my host family.

Our house is currently under construction, it's just like being at home in NY! The open living room is being closed up a little so that it can support the second story better (or as Dan kindly said 'my fat ass', since this support is directly below my room). 9:30am the noise starts, it's pretty great...

So much love to you all! And congrats for making it to the end of this post :)

Fotos: Andes from Cerro San Cristobal; The HUGE Virgin Mary that's at the top of the Cerro; Museo de Bellas Artes; Me and Marina dancing in front of La Moneda; Me and Allyson with some delicious ice cream.